A Few Words Short
by Rhianwen
Summary: Mirage can't give a simple answer to a simple question. Violet can't wait forever. Set five years postmovie. Shameless fluff. Written whilst under the influence of Tylenol Coolburst Daytime Cold Relief.


A Few Words Short

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Disclaimer: All characters depicted within are the creations of the people who came up with them.

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Summary: "I just need an answer. Yes or no, it's one syllable, it'll take half a second." Violet/Mirage. Written in a short burst of insanity.

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Notes: This is my little experiment. I like these characters together, and have found approximagely two other stories with this pairing, both of which I love devotedly. I suspect this is nowhere as good, but I still kind of like it. Set about five years down the road after the movie. Assumes a lot, including some funny "slightly-older" characterizations. Is probably AU.

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Mirage is a smart girl; she knows when she's been beaten. 

And right now is one of those moments; that little voice is shouting at her, _give it up, you can't win, and she knows that you don't really want to_.

To be fair, there are far stronger people who would crumble beneath the terrifyingly calm, stony Angry-Eye the dark-haired girl in front of her has learned so flawlessly from her mother.

Helen Parr, the only woman she's cared to call a _friend_ in years, and very possibly the only woman who's _ever_ cared to call her one. A friendship forged through bizarre means involving a chance meeting in a coffee house and a disastrous afternoon of apartment-hunting for a disoriented, grief-stricken young woman, and aid offered unhesitatingly by another with an inborn imperative to help where she could, and a firm belief that _helping_ meant _taking control_.

She's always been a little afraid of Mrs. Parr, and not only because she learned first-hand that the woman packs one hell of a punch.

Violet was a different matter entirely; she loves the girl devotedly, and has from the first time she saw that _smile_, sweet and quirky and still a little shy despite leaps and bounds in confidence, as that skinny child of fourteen told her with a tiny shrug that it was okay that she'd heard all about Tony from a grinning, snickering Dash, because everyone else knew, and anyway, _we're friends, right?_

And she respects the girl; has since long before she started loving her like the gentle, sweet little sister everyone longs to protect even when she blatantly doesn't need it. She knows that Helen might very well be stronger than the rest of the family put together, but she suspects that Violet is going to follow in her mother's path, strong but understated, and surprising when the whole measure is revealed.

Not surprising; _stunning_.

But she has never been _afraid_ of Violet before, and wonders now how she ever _wasn't_, even when the shy, pretty dark-haired returned from a first semester of college taller than her mother, beautiful, outspoken, and with entirely new ideas of _her type_.

Admiring, yes; a little embarrassed at her own flushed cheeks in response to the girl's gentle flirting right under her mother's startled, half-amused and half-troubled eyes, definitely.

But afraid, no. Not until she chanced to get a good look at those dark eyes half-glaring down at her, jaw stubbornly set.

Hold on...half-glaring _down_ at her? When did _that _happen?

But even though she knows that she's been beaten, she can't go down without a fight, and struggles the whole way like an angry cat tied up in a burlap sack.

"Violet, I have to go. I have a ton of errands to run today."

The _almost-glare_ becomes a _glare_.

"That's all you're going to say?"

"What do you want to hear?"

Thin, pale arms cross huffily.

"Oh, I don't know. An answer, maybe? Like, _Yes, Violet, I have noticed that you're not a kid anymore, and in honour of your recently developed hotness, I would like to declare my undying love; _or _No, Violet, I've still got my head stuck in the sand so I can't move past the fact that you were underage at one point_. Or you can just say _yes_ or _no_ if you want."

The blonde laughs as those strange dark eyes sparkle mischievously.

"When you put it like that, they both sound ridiculous. Look, I think we should talk about this later, but I really do have to get going now."

"Just answer the question first," the dark-haired girl orders quietly. "I just need a yes or a no. It's only one syllable; it'll take half a second."

"I'm running late."

"Then say something! Just say _yes_, and we can work it out later!"

"There are a lot of things to consider--"

"Then say _no_! One word, and I'll never bring it up again."

"This is silly. And I've got a dentist appointment I'm in the process of missing."

As she turns to go, she hears Violet snicker slightly – probably imagining her in a paper bib with a spit-sucker hanging out of her mouth – and unwisely fails to notice the girl extending one hand and focusing on the doorway.

"Ow!" she yelps sadly, rebounding off an invisible wall of energy and landing in a decidedly undignified heap on the floor of Violet's old room, rubbing her nose sadly.

How, she wonders, does she always end up with bruises whenever she's around this family?

"Funny, Violet," she says huffily as the younger girl drops to the floor next to her.

"I wasn't trying to be funny," Violet shrugs. "I just wasn't finished talking to you."

"Okay, point taken. No one walks away from Violet Parr without sustaining injury."

"Sorry about the force field. Are you going to answer the question now?"

"No," the blonde sighs, looking on the verge of pouting. "I can't. If I say _yes_, your parents will probably skin me alive for corrupting their daughter."

"Don't worry," the younger girl says easily. "Mom likes you now. And she told Dad years ago that he's not allowed to even breathe in the direction of my love life. Anyway, I'll tell them what really happened."

"What, I tried to responsibly put a stop to this and you threw a wall at me?"

Violet giggles, half-crawling into the other girl's lap.

"That's Dad, actually."

Mirage shakes her head in mock-despair, idly braiding and unbraiding Violet's hair.

"I really hope you just mean he _could_, and this isn't your hitherto unknown power to see into the future at work."

Violet laughs again, then falls silent.

"So, what about the other one?"

"What?"

"You only told me why you can't say yes. What about no?"

A long silence.

"Because it's really hard to lie to you," Mirage finally admits, looking anywhere in the room to avoid that expectant gaze.

The dark-haired girl smiles, that sweet, blushing smile, and for a moment it's easy to tell that she's been _the shy kid_ for most of her life.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Yes, that's a yes," Mirage agrees with a soft laugh, kissing the other girl's smooth, pale forehead lightly.

And being promptly tackled.

Several minutes and several breathless kisses later, Violet grins. Mirage raises one eyebrow, smiling a little uncertainly.

"What?"

"Just wondering what you're going to tell your dentist about why you're half an hour late."

The blonde shrugs indifferently.

"Traffic was bad."

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End file.
